Tag: GENDER VIOLENCE

Ms Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, has said that worldwide, almost one-in-two women murdered were killed by a partner or ex-partner.

Mohammed stated this in Brussels at the launch of a new partnership between the UN and EU, an essential tool to make violence against women and girls “a thing of the past”.

Addressing the European Development Days, she said that the joint ‘Spotlight Initiative’ was a key element for making Global Goal 5 on women’s empowerment, of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, a reality.

She said that in some countries, “spotlight will focus on the most extreme form of violence – femicide”.

“Often, in the wake of these murders, we find that women have indeed reported to the police, or sought medical care.

“But service providers did not have adequate information or the means to identify the risk,” the UN deputy scribe said.

Mohammed said some of the violence took place due to the broader insecurity that women faced, particularly where they were advocating for women’s rights.

She painted a picture of women not fully included in decision-making, being subjected to a “global pandemic” of violence against women and girls.

“Attacks and discrimination are deeply embedded in social norms, attitudes and practices. Addressing these mindsets will require significant investments of time, resources and political will,” she asserted.

Now in the third year of working towards the Sustainable Development Goals, the forum in 2018 is spotlighting on gender equality.

“Without equality and empowerment, we will simply perpetuate today’s paradigm: trying to address all the world’s challenges with only half the world’s assets,” she said.

The UN deputy chief cited the World Bank in detailing how women’s equal participation in the labour force had the potential to unlock 160 trillion dollars for sustainable development reinvestment.

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“Yet a stark reality prevails: more women than men live in extreme poverty,” she said, adding that the worldwide pay gap stands at 23 per cent, and gender roles have been too slow to change.

Mohammed pointed to the benefit of reaching SDG 5 – for the more than 190 countries around the world who signed up to the Goals in 2015 – which calls for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

“I often call it the ‘docking station’ for all the goals,” she said, flagging that Spotlight builds on civil society leadership and aims to address some of the imbalances women face.

The UN deputy chief also underscored the UN’s commitment to lead by example by empowering women within the organisation itself.

Mohammed said the UN was working towards, for the first time in its history, full gender parity in the Senior Management Group and among those nominated to be its Resident Coordinators.

“We have a long way to go. But we have a plan and we have the will,” she stressed.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state has unveiled a resource book that chronicles the fight against sexual abuse and gender-based violence in the state.

The book, titled, Overcoming Sexual and Gender Based Violence: The Lagos State, features contributions from individuals and organisations working on the issue and first-hand account of survivors and officials of the state’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team.

Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, at the book presentation and award dinner to mark the Domestic Violence Month, organised by DSVRT, said the time has come to confront the ‘ monster’ in the society.

“The need to share our experiences and success therefore birthed the idea of a book, which would encapsulate the way Lagos State has tackled the scourge of sexual and gender based violence.

“The intervention of DSVRT is gradually breaking the silence around issues of sexual and gender-based violence in Lagos State. There is a growing change in the culture, and people are increasingly confident to speak out, and we have seen an astronomical increase in the reporting of cases in the media.”

The DSVRT Coordinator, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said the book was a resource tool, which highlights the numerous interventions embarked upon by the state government and the team.

‘‘To highlight the practicality and intensity of our procedures, this resource tool shares the first-hand stories of some survivors and details how their cases were handled,” she said.

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The Community Court of Justice in the Economic Community of West African States on Tuesday, upheld the suit filed against the Federal Government over its refusal to effectively investigate the domestic violence committed against Mary Sunday by her estranged fiancée and police officer, Isaac Gbanwuan.

Two gender rights organisations, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, had dragged the Federal Government to the ECOWAS Court of Justice over the violation of the fundamental human rights of the victim.

Sunday had suffered severe burns after a hot substance allegedly poured on her by her estranged fiancée.

Her fundamental human rights allegedly breached, according to WARDC and IHRDA,
include right to a remedy, dignity and freedom from torture and other inhuman and degrading treatments.

Akwa-Ibom State-born Mary Sunday suffered an attack from her fiancée and serving Police officer, Isaac Gbanwuan, who poured hot substances on her face and body.

The attack which took place in August 2012, after a disagreement over their relationship, disfigured her face and body.

Despite the intensity of the damages done to her body, the Nigeria Police Force was said to have allegedly refused to carry out an effective investigation into the attack, and have not prosecuted the offender.

In his judgment, Justice Wilkins Wright, denied the objections raised by the Federal Government and also granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, saying the case is admissible in the ECOWAS court.

He said, “Hence the case is admissible; accordingly, the defendants’ motion for preliminary objection is hereby denied. The case has sustained to be heard on merit. As to locus standi, the plaintiffs have locus standi to sue.

“As for jurisdiction, the court has jurisdiction to hear and entertain the suit once its human right jurisdiction has been invoked. Therefore, for the sustenance of the defence, we have determined that this requires the trial to take evidence from the party involved in their respective pleading, to determine as to whether or not the conduct of the Federal Republic of Nigeria amount to the violation of this international treaty obligation, and hence the violation of plaintiff’s fundamental right.”

The plaintiffs WARDC and IHRDA had asked the ECOWAS court to determine, among other reliefs, if the refusal of the government to carry out an effective investigation or prosecution, makes the Nigerian State responsible for the violation in international law under the human rights treaties to which is a State party to or not.

But Federal Government, represented by the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Mr Taiwo Abiodun argued that the government could not be sued on account of any unofficial act allegedly committed by its citizens, said the plaintiff lacks ‘locus standi’ to institute the case.